Marlins complete sweep of Cubs

Friday

Sep 28, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2007 at 2:39 PM

The North Siders (83-76), a team hoping to win the National League Central crown, were swept three games by the National League East basement-dwelling Marlins, were 0-6 against them on the season, and have lost 10 in a row to them dating back to April 26, 2006.

Jeff Vorva

Comic actor Bill Murray has been hanging around the playoff-hopeful Cubs the past few days and it appears he’s filming “Groundhog Day II.”

The Cubs wake up in Hollywood, Fla., play baseball at Pro Player Stadium and lose.

The Cubs wake up in Hollywood, Fla., play baseball at Pro Player Stadium and lose.

The Cubs wake up in ... well, you get the idea of the script.

Despite pregame pep talks from Murray to some of the troops, the Cubs dropped a 6-4 decision to the Florida Marlins in front of a crowd of 24,809 on Thursday afternoon.

The North Siders (83-76), a team hoping to win the National League Central crown, were swept three games by the National League East basement-dwelling Marlins, were 0-6 against them on the season, and have lost 10 in a row to them dating back to April 26, 2006.

Dejected outfielder Cliff Floyd had some advice for fans before the Cubs finish the regular season with a three-game set in Cincinnati starting tonight.

“Keep prayin’,” Floyd said. “Keep watching and hopefully we’ll do it. They’ve been with us this far. Might as well ride it out. Everybody knew this was going to go down to the end. Here we are.”

A few hours after Floyd’s words, some prayers were answered. San Diego knocked off Milwaukee 9-5. The Cubs still own a two-game lead over the Brewers with three games to go and could clinch a playoff berth tonight if the Cubs beat the Reds and Milwaukee loses again to the Padres.

If the Cubs suffer a collapse, the three-game sweep by the Marlins will loom large. The Cubs were hoping to salvage at least Thursday's game, and manager Lou Piniella predicted the Cubs would win Thursday’s game on Wednesday night.

Despite Aramis Ramirez’s four-hit performance, the Cubs left 10 on base, including four in the first two innings when they had Marlins left-hander Scott Olsen on the ropes.

“We squandered a lot of opportunities and had a chance to score a hell of a lot more than four runs,” Piniella said. “We haven’t figured out how to beat them.”

“They played the role of spoiler and they played it really well,” Cubs closer Ryan Dempster said.

Cubs starter Steve Trachsel, who hadn’t pitched in a game since Sept. 13, gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings to fall to 1-3. He bristled when asked what went wrong.

“What went wrong? Hmm,” he said. “My stuff was pretty good. They manufactured some runs. A couple sacrifice flies. A solo home run. I gave up a foul ball that went for a double and it cost us a run.”

Piniella got into an argument about Miguel Cabrera’s double down the right-field line in the fifth.

“We didn’t catch any breaks – this was a frustrating series. We just got swept,” Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee said. “And we just swept a team (Pittsburgh over the weekend at Wrigley Field). We can turn it back around and win that series in Cincinnati. We’re still in the driver’s seat.”

After close to 100 years without a title and all the strange things that have happened to the franchise, Cubs fans are probably getting a little anxious right now.

“I understand the history,” Lee said. “But I promise you that between the white lines, we’re not thinking about the history of the Cubs. We’re playing hard and trying to win games.”

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